The White House circulated an email of talking points on President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukraine’s president, but the email wound up mistakenly in the clutches of House Democrats.
The message, titled, “What you need to know: President Trump’s call with President Zelensky,” was quickly sent off to Republican staffers and lawmakers.
“Let’s be clear, there was no quid pro quo for Ukraine to get U.S. aid in exchange for looking into Biden and his son,” read one of the talking points, referring to the president’s chat with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that included the corruption probe into Joe and Hunter Biden, according to screenshots of the talking points obtained by Politico.
“This complaint was handled absolutely by the book and it was properly determined that no further action should be taken,” read another, referring to the Justice Department’s decision not to begin a criminal investigation into the complaint.
But the messages also wound up in the hands of the Democrats, who ridiculed White House Republicans over their error in email courtesy.
“I would like to thank @WhiteHouse for sending me their talking points on how best to spin the disastrous Trump/Zelensky call in Trump’s favor,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) said in a tweet. “However, I will not be using their spin and will instead stick with the truth. But thanks though.”
Another Democrat, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), called the talking points “Orwellian lies and toxic trash”:
The White House tried to recall the mistaken emails sent to Democrat lawmakers, but they were too late.
Democrats are arguing that a quid pro quo is not necessary for a president to be impeached, and are pressuring the White House to release the contents of the whistleblower complaint to both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.